WHITE-OF-EGG LEMONADE.
The New York Medical Journal gives the following directions (by R. F. Leftwich) for the preparation of this beverage as a nutritive drink for febrile disorders: “Two lemons, the whites of 2 eggs, 1 pint of boiling water, loaf sugar to taste. The lemons must be peeled twice, the yellow rind alone being used, while the white layer is rejected. Place the sliced lemon and the yellow peel in a quart jug with 2 lumps of sugar; pour on them the boiling water and stir occasionally. When cooled to about the ordinary temperature of tea, strain off the lemons. Now insert an egg whisk, and when the lemonade is in full agitation add slowly the white of the egg and continue the whisking. While still hot strain through muslin, and serve when cold. The white of the egg will be found to impart a blandness which makes the addition of sugar almost unnecessary. This absence of sweetness is greatly appreciated in pyrexial cases, and has its obvious value for diabetics. For non-febrile cases with clean tongues more than 2 eggs may be used to the pint if desired. This drink is contraindicated only in cases of true Bright’s disease. It is very useful in the febrile diseases of childhood. It also possesses antiscorbutic properties which replace those lost from milk by boiling and sterilization. It is recommended as part of the diet in typhoid fever, forming a relief from the monotony of milk, and does not have the constipating and flatus-producing effects that lie in beaten-up eggs that include the yolk. The author states that the patient who takes plenty of this lemonade in addition to 4 pints of milk per day will emerge from the pyrexial period of typhoid fever in a much stronger condition than without its use.”